"Would you mind my going on without you, then? Perhaps that would be the best plan. I daresay Jim will come with me."
Her husband looked at her narrowly. He felt he was playing a losing game.
"I will go down to Trelso to-day, and see exactly what the state of affairs is—how they stand, in fact."
"Very good. I shall start on Thursday, then. I will write to Jim to-day. I hope you won't lose any more money over this."
He smiled rather grimly.
"I hope not. This last year has been very expensive. I don't grudge it in the least; in fact, it is very interesting to me to see how much a woman can spend."
He was conscious of an impotent desire to make it not quite pleasant for Eva, even if she did get her own way in the main, and he was pleased to see her flinch, just perceptibly. She was annoyed with herself for doing it.
"Yes, I suppose you find you spend much more now than you used."
"About ten thousand a year more."
"Dear me, that is a great deal. You can hardly have counted the cost."